Another beautiful sunny day in downtown Poulsbo.  I’ve been rising early and enjoying the early morning cool of the sun.  My yard is getting weeded and beautified by my wonderful Sister-in –law, Jean Ford, and I’ve actually done some myself.  I wish I could do more, but that’s another story and another day.

Sorry, once again, to be so long with my update, but I wanted to see how the first week of chemo went before I reported.  I had my first intravenous chemo on Monday, May 7^th.  The clinic visit takes a little less than 2 hours.  I see the doctor or nurse practitioner first, and they are very thorough.  Each visit they will check my blood cells before I am treated and also discuss any possible side effects I may be having.  By the way, the clinic is less than a mile from my house, and I am able to drive myself.  Yes – I can drive.  After the doctor visit I go to the treatment room. It is a large room with many nice lounge chairs.  I choose my chair and am immediately approached by the next available nurse.  After verifying my name and birthdate, an IV is put into my right arm.  First I am given a drip of steroids and an anti-nausea drug.  That takes about 20 minutes.  Then the nurse comes with two hypodermic syringes that fasten into the IV near the insertion point.  She administers these manually and that takes about 5 minutes.  These are the actual chemo drugs.  This is called a “push”.  Next I am given s drip or “push” of saline to be sure the drugs are sent into my blood stream.  So, the entire treatment takes about 45 minutes, but the actual chemo takes only 5 minutes.  Since I am there such a short time (compared to many others) I have just used my time there for napping.  Nothing much else I can do.

I have now had two IV treatments and will not go back until June 4^th.  My cycle is 28 days and the IVs are on the first and eighth days.  When I start the IV treatment I also start 14 days of oral drugs that I take at home with my breakfast.  This is the third drug in my CFM treatment.  After those 14 days I have 14 days of no drugs.

My side effects have been fairly minimal.  At first I had some constant nausea but I have fixed that by having a big breakfast with my pills and eating many small meals all day long.  I guess that is what we call grazing and it works great for me.  I’ve stocked my freezer with small Trader Joe’s frozen meals, so when I get hungry I just put something in the microwave.  I’ve also been pretty tired.  This also comes in waves.  I’ve just decided to give in to that and take naps as needed.  So if I’m talking to you and say I’m going to take a nap, it’s not because I don’t want to talk,  I just plain need a nap.  Good news is that during my 14 days off, the side effects should go away.  I will plan for that and those will be my days to get back to work at my quilting and bookmaking and sock dying fun.  Also, as I figure out how to deal with the chemo side effects I will be able to get more done.  I really miss my studio time.

The Plastic Surgery (Boob-Job) is coming along nicely.  I had my last fill last week and it is now starting to feel much better.  Those first few days are pretty uncomfortable.  This time I swear you could have bounced a quarter off my chest.  It feels like I’m wearing a way too tight bra but there’s no taking it off.  The other day my brother came to take me out to dinner.  When we were finished he said he had to get me home to get the truck parked back on my chest.  Funny, but true.  I am now scheduled for surgery on June 15^th.  This is a day surgery where my doctor will make a smaller incision to remove the temporary expanders and replace them with the “real” thing – the permanent silicone ones.  Permanent actually means temporary also as they will last for 10 – 15 years.  Then I will make a decision to have them replace or just removed.  Will I really care when I’m 75 years old??  A few weeks after the exchange surgery I will have a couple of office visits where the doctor will do a little cosmetic surgery and his nurse will do some tattooing.  (no detail needed here)  This will finish off the plastic surgery phase of my adventure.  Anyway, I’m looking forward to this “final” phase of the reconstruction.  By mid July I should be feeling pretty good and able to start my summer commitments beginning with Royal Family Kid’s Camp.  I’m praying that my white-blood cells hold up for that.  So far, so good.

So, there is your update.  Just know that I am doing great and am reminded regularly how blessed I am that this isn’t worse and that we caught it in time to make it right.  The other great thing is that it is happening during the most beautiful time of year in the Northwest. If I have to feel lousy sometimes, at least I’m feeling lousy when the sun is shining and everything is in bloom. 

Life is good and this event has certainly changed my outlook on life.  My priorities have changed and I have less thought about the little things that just don’t matter. 

Once again, thank you all so much for your kind words and prayers, phone calls and cards and e-mails.  Each one means so much to me and it is what will get me through this with joy and grace.  I wish I could answer each and every one.

May Update


Since my last update, I have had two "fills" on my reconstruction, both of which were/are uncomfortable, a couple of spots being more tender.  This pain has caused me to be somewhat cranky and tired also.  The constant discomfort is very energy sapping.  However, I have reached my desired size and will have one more fill "for good measure" before my exchange surgery on June 8th.  At that time the plastic surgeon will remove the temporary "expanders" and place the final silicone fillers.  This will be a day surgery at Harrison Hospital.  I will come home the that afternoon.  After that, there a couple of little "cosmetic" procedures in his office which will complete the process.  It has made me very happy to be able to see the end of this part of my treatment.


Yesterday I saw my oncologist for the results on the "recurrence" testing that was done on my tissue.  They have studied hundreds of women and come up with a matrix comparing tissue, type of cancer, age, and several other pieces of information and are able to draw together a score that predicts the likelihood of recurrence.  We were very certain my score would be very low and fall into the "very unlikely" range.  However, fates being what they are and God's plan usually being different than my own, my score came in in the middle zone, a 22 out of fifty.  This is not terribly bad, but because of the type of cancer I have (hard to detect) and the possibility of it lodging in places that would be untreatable (lung or stomach lining), I have opted to 6 months of chemotherapy.  The chemo will be fairly light and will take place right here in Poulsbo.  The side effects will be minimal (comparatively speaking) and will NOT include hair loss.  I will have IV's two Mondays then have the next two weeks off.  During the weeks of the IV's I will also take pills.  The IV's include two drugs and the oral being one drug.  My first week will be next week starting on May 7th.


I was delighted to come home after the scheduling to discover that the treatments will not fall on the Mondays I am scheduled to be away at Fiddle Camps.  This is a real up side to this adventure.  Also, my treatments will be over in September.  This means I will have loads of sunshine and fresh air to enjoy, even if I am not feeling so great.


I can't tell you how much your calls, e-mails and cards mean to me.  The love I am feeling from all around is what sustains me daily.  I covet your prayers and good thoughts.  
     
Special thanks to my sister-in-law, Jean, who has been my driver, interpreter, dog keeper and constant companion during this past month.  I refer to her as my "Handler".  I could not do this alone.